Moonshine and Blonde Brides
by The Mountain Man Contest
Summary: Emmett McCarty lived a simple life outside Gatlinburg, TN until one day, in the form of a honey-colored blonde woman, changed his life forever. Now far from home, he must learn to carve out his new identity


Title: "Moonshine and Blonde Brides"

Summary: "Emmett McCarty lived a simple life outside Gatlinburg, TN until one day, in the form of a honey-colored blonde woman, changed his life forever. Now far from home, he must learn to carve out his new identity."

Pairing: Emmett/Rose

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 2889

DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.

_Emmett POV Gatlinburg, TN 1935_

"Emmett Dale McCarty...you get your womanizin' ass back in here, boy!" I heard as I walked out the door again. As you can tell, I'm Emmett and that lovely woman yellin' at me is my mama. It was a clear night and I was gonna met my friends for drinks. Yeah, there might be women too. Waving my hand above my head, I ignored Mama yellin' at me. I had been up since five AM and worked the entire day. A man was allowed to have a bit of fun after a hard day's work, you know?

The woods around me were quiet, and I wished now, I had brought my gun. The dog beside me yipped loudly scarin' away all the wildlife. Well damn, if I wanted to hunt, I wouldn't have anything to hunt with now. Stupid mutt. Only thing it was good fer was lettin' my mama know I was crawling in the door in the middle of the night. Climbin' into my beat up truck, I flipped the engine on and heard the motor rumble before it died.

Hell and damnation!

Getting out, I angrily slammed the door. Wincing when I heard Mama yellin' again, I set out on foot. It wouldn't be the first time I walked somewhere. I would have to fix that beat up piece of shit when I got up in the morning. If I could see that is. The night air was cold, but I had a flask of 'shine to keep me warm. Yeah, I would be nice and warm by the time I got to town. Eight miles 'til I reached the railroad that I spent my days working to keep my ma and sister cared for.

Living out here was rough and survival was the only way to stay alive. We were; just barely though. Pops had died during the War, leaving me, my two older brothers, my sister, and my ma alone. Yeah, it was tough, but my brothers took care of things and I started helping out when I was old enough to hunt.

Bein' a kid, I could split wood and hunt which was 'bout all my brothers would let me do until I turned fifteen. Then I worked at the railroad that was being built in Gatlinburg. Both my brothers upped and got hitched soon after, leaving me alone with my ma and sister. I brought game in whenever I could and worked every day except for Sundays when Mama forced me to go to church. I would love to sleep off my hangover rather than sit in a church listen' to the preacher man talk.

My boots crunched against the gravel road and soon enough, I heard my pals yellin' for me to hurry up. There was a large bonfire goin' with several ladies present. And plenty of 'shine. My oldest friend's daddy made the 'shine, and we snuck it out. He'd skin us alive if someone caught us drinkin'. The party would have lasted till dawn, but my drunk ass had to get up and work again tomorrow. It would be back to the rails and I'd be hungover. Wouldn't be the first time or the last. Leavin' my pals, I stumbled back home drunk where I intended to sleep it off.

No such luck. Mama woke me up dumping a bucket of freezin' ass cold water on my head. I cursed loudly which she 'bout smacked my mouth for.

"Emmett, git up you drunk fool. You gotta be at work in an hour." I heard her say before she slammed the door. Wincing, I slowly dragged my ass outta bed and found my work clothes. Lookin' at myself in the mirror, I looked like shit. Great, boss will know I've been drinkin' all night. As I walked into the next room, my sister, Gracie gave me a sympathetic look while Mama handed me a cup of strong coffee and a hunk of bread. Handin' me my lunch pail, I took off with my coffee and bread in hand.

Getting in the truck, I remembered that it wasn't working! Damn it, now I'll be late to work. Taking off down the road, I finished my coffee and bread. It wasn't much, but it was enough to start my day. Half an hour later, I joined up with the boys for work. The boss already yellin' at a new fella. I almost felt sorry for the poor bastard but the boss yelled at everyone. Setting my pail down, I grabbed my spike maul; I found out I would drive the rail spikes in while some of the crew would lay down the track.

This was my job. I was the strongest and the biggest man out here. That's why I did this. All day, every day. No man was bigger than me. Well, except my oldest brother, but he doesn't do this anymore. He now works in Gatlinburg at a pretty cushy job. Too bad he can't git me one. His old lady says I'm too wild for the genteel folks. Whatever that means.

So that's how my days go. I work till I can't move my arms, then at night I drink with my pals until I can't walk. I don't know how my mama puts up with me some days. At least, I bring home money and game. I think we've tried everything the woods has to offer. Deer season was almost over and I promised I get enough meat to last us all winter long. Even in winter, I would be workin'. It's not like I'd freeze to death. Fifteen minutes sluggin' that spike maul and you were sweatin'.

My second oldest brother asked if I was gonna take me a wife. He had just gotten married over the summer and he 'spects it my turn. I laughed at him and told him there wasn't a woman out there for me. Little did I know that she did in fact exist and I would find her. Even mMama was gettin' on my case about it. Sayin' I needed a woman in my life to keep me straight and to give her granbabies.

Shit. I had two older brothers for that. Me, I don't want no kids. I take care of Gracie and that's all I want. She is a nice kid and all; I love her to pieces. Spoiling her whenever I have a spare coin. Mama doesn't like it. She wants Grace to be a humble young lady. She was...most of the time. She did her schooling and no one would let her drop out to work and help me out. I wouldn't ever let her quit school. Someone in this family needed the smarts. I wasn't dumb, but I did lack education.

I hunted a deer down several days later. I had to get up earlier than normal to hunt. I didn't even drink the night before,uch to the disappointment of my pals. Dropping it off with the butcher, I promised to return after work with the payment. Of course, I'm sure I could have bartered with the man and gotten the whole deer processed for free. The butcher loved turkey, but there ain't no way I was gettin' a turkey that day.

I returned that night and paid the man. Mama and Gracie were stocking the cabinets for winter. Mama had spent the past few weeks canning food from her small garden and I would be in charge of killing two chickens this Saturday. I needed to split wood as well. I had three weeks before it was gonna get too cold to do some things.

Winter came and went. The snow piled up over my head in some areas and I'm a big man. Grace loved the snow but hated when her clothes got soaked. We kept the fire roaring all winter long. It was the coldest we had seen in many years. Long before Pops died, Mama said. There were days, I was stuck at home with no pay and nothing to do but hunt whatever I could find and split wood.

When spring came around, it was warm and wet. The air was thick and cloudy most days, but that it didn't matter. I would work in the rain to take care of my mama and sister. Grace returned to school, leaving Mama alone at home to begin the year all over again. The spring turned into summer and the meat had finally ran out. Mama glared at me for spending the night drinkin' again instead of getting up early to hunt game.

Packing my gun and a lunch, I gave my sister a hug and a kiss.I did the same to my mama, never knowing this would be the last day I would ever see them again. Shoving my feet into my work boots, I left the house without a second thought. The dog beside me waited patiently for me to start the truck but my feet headed toward the woods behind the house. He followed me. God, I hope he doesn't bark. He'll scare off the game.

Tromping through the woods, I listened closely for something...anything. Normally there was something close by and I could kill it and be home within a few hours, but today there was nothing. The woods were too quiet for my taste and a weird feeling came over me. Shruggin' it off, I kept walking north. Maybe I'd find something there.

As my luck would have it, I found something. A huge ass black bear pawing into a stream tryin' to catch a fish. We weren't picky, meat was meat to my family. Steadying my gun, I prayed that damn mutt wouldn't bark and ruin this for me. Before I could squeeze the trigger, the damn dog barked. Groaning, I had half a mind to shoot the damn dog instead but his life was short lived when the bear noticed us finally and charged.

_Oh shit_. ...I thought to myself and ducked out the way. The mutt wasn't so lucky. I couldn't watch but I heard the last yip from that dog before the bear turned its ugly head at me. The damn thing was taller than me, had to be. My eyes widened, and I scrambled for my gun that had slipped from my fingers when I ducked away from being mauled. The bear landed on its paws and came at me. Bracing myself, I screamed when his giant claws scrapped over my chest. Hell and damnation that hurt! I could smell my blood pouring off my chest and he took another swing at me. This time tryin' to gut me. I knew it then. I was gonna die and would never go home and see my family again.

As I was sayin' my prayers—the same one the preacher man taught us—there was a blur, and the bear flew away from me. I had only seconds to see it hit a nearby boulder. My eyes swam when I looked up and saw an angel staring back at me. If this is what heaven looks like, I don't want to leave it. She picked me up and I could have sworn I was headin' to heaven with Pops. It'd be nice to see him again.

I struggled to hold on. Maybe I'd get another glimpse of my angel before I met Jesus. The wind rushed around us and it felt like the cold hand of death. Maybe I'm being too dramatic, but damn. It was cold!

Suddenly, we stopped and my angel screamed for someone. I didn't catch his name, but it sure didn't sound like Jesus to me. The image of a blonde man hovering over me confirmed that this wasn't the man upstairs. His eyes were frantic and gold. Then he asked me the stupidest question ever:

"Do you wish to live?" _Well duh asshole...of course I wanna live…_

"If this angel will always be there, then yeah…" I replied groggily. How in the hell was he gonna help me live? I was bleedin' to death!

He leaned forward, and I felt a burning sensation spreading throughout my body. Jesus Christ, this hurt like hell! Hands picked me up and moved me around. The pain didn't leave me, it got worse. It felt like I was burning in the pits of Hell with the Devil dancing around it. The pain ran through my veins and felt a prick on my arm. They were shootin' me up with something. Oh, hell no! I tried to get up, but the burning stopped that.

I laid there, and I felt hands strip my ruined clothes off and someone washing me. I wasn't completely out. It felt like my head was swimming. More hands put fresh clothes on me. Then they left. The room was silent except for the pounding in my head and my ears. The pain traveled through my body and finally when I couldn't take it anymore. I screamed.

I don't know how long I laid there and screamed. I screamed until I couldn't. Then I screamed some more. Finally, the burning stopped, and I felt my heart stop. Was I dead? Was this the end of my life? When I opened my eyes, the world was far different than I was used to. Looking around, I saw my angel sitting beside me and woah! Was she a looker! If my heart was beating, it would have burst out of my chest.

"Wher—where am I?" I asked, my voice completely different from normal. The faces around me seemed concerned.

"You're in Roanoke. What do you remember?" the blonde man said. _Holy shit...I was a hundred miles from home…._

"I was huntin' and a bear jumped me. This angel swooped in and saved my hide." I motioned toward the pretty blonde woman beside me. She smiled brightly at my words.

"What is your name, son?"

"Emmett Dale McCarty sir," I said sitting up slowly. My body felt the same, but it was very different. Even someone like myself could tell the difference. "If you don't mind me askin', why do I feel different?"

"You're a vampire, Emmett. You're like myself and my family," the blonde man said hugging a pretty brunette closer to him.

"Seriously?" I looked around at them. My eyes landing on the pretty blonde. She nodded at me and I felt my face break out into a huge smile. "Will this angel be here with me forever?"

If she could have blushed, she would have. I heard the small tittering of chuckles behind me, but I ignored it. "Forever if you wish…" she whispered.

I reached over and took her hand, "Yeah, forever sounds good to me…."

"As for your confusion, Emmett, I am Carlisle Cullen," the blonde man said, giving me a large smile. Placing a hand on the woman beside him, "This is Esme, my wife. Across from you is Edward and Annlisse."

Both Edward and Annlisse smiled, but my attention was on Rosalie and her beautiful smile. Breaking away from Rose's beautiful face, I turned back toward Carlisle, "Did you turn everyone here?"

Chuckling, he shook his head, "I did not. Annlisse is the only one I didn't change. She and I met in Charleston in 1801. You can say that she and I started this little family. It wasn't until the beginning of the twentieth century when I found my Esme."

"I was changed in 1581 by a doctor who helped nurse me back to health." Annlisse spoke up softly, "I was on my own for many centuries before I met Carlisle. Our first meeting was quite interesting and surprisingly, it has lasted all this time."

The blonde, Rosalie, was the only one that concerned me, but she would be Rosie to me. I don't know how to explain it, but I loved her already. I would do anything for her.

The first time they took me to 'hunt', as they call it, was thrilling. It was much more fun than actually hunting. While I learned about my new life, the old one crept up on me. I remembered I had a sister and a mama. Devastated that I would leave them destitute because of my stupid ass, I didn't know what to do.

The sister called Annlisse sat down and told me she could give me enough money to last them a long time. I laughed and told her that enough to see my sister married would be enough for me. There might be enough to take care of mama or Gracie would let her live with them. Taking a bag, Edward came with me. I could see that Rosie wanted too but I think she felt a bit guilty that this had happened to me and stayed behind. I dropped the money bag off late that night and hoped Mama would see it when she got up the next morning.

Turning around, I nodded at Edward and looked at my home once more. It was the last time I would ever lay eyes on it and I wanted to remember it for how it was. Sprinting off into sunrise, I left and never looked back.


End file.
